Obamacare: Leviathan Rising

Did our Founding Fathers create an all-powerful federal government that can wield unlimited authority over its citizens? Can it bludgeon the 50 sovereign state governments into submission on fiscal and other matters? Specifically, can Uncle Sam regulate not just our everyday activities, but our everyday inactivity as well? Moreover, can it set in motion fiscal forces that, over time, will effectively subjugate the states to the federal Leviathan? What, if any, limit is there with respect to federal authority over individuals and the states?

Only rarely does the Supreme Court accept a case that could define the constitutional limits of the federal government. Its decision to hear the many constitutional challenges to Obamacare is one such occasion. The Obama administration’s signature achievement promises to be the central domestic issue in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections — and the very nature of the issues raised in this suit all but guarantees that the political debate over Obamacare’s future will favor conservatives.